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Posey wasn’t even blocking the entire plate when the Florida Marlins’ Scott Cousins leveled him last May 25. Posey, the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year, suffered a broken leg and three torn ankle ligaments. The San Francisco Giants’ hopes of defending their World Series crown were carted away with him.

Manager Bruce Bochy has since politicked to change the rules. He’d like to see a neutral zone established, where a catcher could try to tag a runner without being demolished.

His campaign generated some support, but MLB has shown little interest. So the Giants have told Posey to stop blocking the plate. Just play matador and swipe-tag at runners.To old-schoolers, it seems so very San Francisco.

But peace, love and baseball pacifism don’t play in the heartland. The Minnesota Twins have told Mauer, who spent so much time on the DL last year he should play in bubble wrap, to keep playing the old-fashioned way.

“I think if you’re going to be a catcher, you have to be prepared to have a collision,” Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. “That’s part of the business.”

So were spitballs and 154 straight day games. Injuries are part of every sport, but responsible sports do all they can to minimize them.

That’s why players supposedly can’t block basepaths and catchers wear protective gear. The gear is designed to protect them from errant baseballs, which weigh 5¼ ounces. It doesn’t offer much help against a 220-pound human missile.

Just ask Posey. He couldn’t walk for three months, much less bounce his newborn twins on his knee.

Within days of Posey’s injury, the Houston Astros’ Humberto Quintero and Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ryan Doumit had similar collisions. They were lucky enough to just sprain ankles and go on the 15-day disabled list.

Francisco Cervelli on the New York Yankees sustained a concussion blocking home plate in September. The same Francisco Cervelli who broke a wrist blocking home plate in a spring training game in 2008.

Carlos Santana’s promising rookie season with the Cleveland Indians was wiped out by a knee injury in 2010. The drip-drip-drip of carnage only occasionally gets real notice.

Following the famed Pete Rose demolition of Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game, Fosse was never the same. But he had the comfort of knowing he tried his best to prevent the National League from winning an inconsequential game.

At least Buck Martinez was playing a real game when he broke his leg blocking the plate in 1985. He played only 81 games the following season before his major league career ended.

And Rick Dempsey is probably still having flashbacks of his 1987 rendezvous with Bo Jackson, who knew a thing or two about delivering a hit.

“I started to think how lucky I was that I only broke my thumb,” Dempsey said afterward. “Had I gotten the ball in time and done what I normally do—get down on both knees and block the plate from the runner—as fast as (Jackson) was running and as big as he was, he probably would’ve either separated or broke my shoulder, or even possibly broke my neck.”

Something like that is probably what it will take for baseball to act. If only the players union was as determined to protect catchers from injury as it was about protecting its members from drug testing.

One reason it isn’t is because so many members agree with Ryan. Collisions are just part of the business. They are, and that isn’t going to change with any new rule. If the winning run is barreling home, even Posey will be tempted to sacrifice his body.

But there are ways to increase the odds that players will walk away from the showdown. Until baseball tries them, teams will have to decide the issue for themselves.

To collide or not to collide?

As much as Twins fans may love tradition, they probably wish Mauer got the same orders Posey just received.

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